Sermon Illustrations for Proper 18 | OT 23 | Pentecost 16 (2024)
Illustration
Proverbs 22: 1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Riches aren’t important. This set of verses from the Proverbs reminds us that there are more important things than riches. Reputation or a good name is more important than having a lot of money. Both the poor and the rich have this in common. That being said, hoarding wealth isn’t good, but having enough to live on is important. In a nation that prides itself on each citizen “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps” it seems a foreign idea that we should ensure that everyone has enough.
The force for good in our faith indicates that we care for the poor, that we seek justice, that we ensure food, housing, employment, health care, and other sustaining items are provided. This idea isn’t socialist, although some will try to make it so. Remember that the early church sold what they had and shared everything together. I’m not saying we need to do that, but I am saying that the social programs that provide for food, housing, employment, healthcare, and education are essential to our care for and love of our neighbors. Working for this justice would give us a “good name.”
Bonnie B.
* * *
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
This week’s lectionary includes three pairs of proverbs that address a common theme, something that people in power, or desire to rise in power, need to know — God is on the side of the poor and the disadvantaged.
vv. 1-2 — This set of proverbs establishes God’s advocacy for the poor. The first one reads:
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.
It opens with something counter-intuitive to the culture at large — a good name. The only name, the only monument (some think the word for name is related to the word for building or monument), worth mentioning is one that speaks well to you. Your name is your monument. Some people give a good deal of thought to what their gravestone will look like. Indeed, the ancient Egyptian pharaohs spent a good deal of their time and energy creating the monuments that would memorialize them after they were gone. But this proverb suggests that your reputation is your legacy. With that in mind an astounding statement is made — there is no difference between rich and poor. In most eras, we’re talking super-rich and super-poor. The whole (and wholly false) idea of nobility or “blue-bloods” is that there is something intrinsically different between the rich and the poor. American slavery was built around the idea that some people were not as fully human as others, and this was preached from American pulpits. Scripture knows nothing of this. We are not separate species. God made us all.
And that leads to the next one! If you act this way, you reap what you sow.
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.
Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
Now in those days the powerful could beat the powerless mercilessly with rods — but not forever. This is a lesson that those who wished to wield power in the courts were expected to learn. You cannot act with impunity without consequences.
The second line involves a little false science but good theology. The ancients believed that the eye sent forth light which illuminated the things we see. They believed in the evil eye — looking at someone with malice could harm them. And that’s true, regardless of the science. We’ve all heard the saying, “If looks could kill….” In a certain sense they do. This second line emphasizes the opposite. Instead of the evil eye, it speaks of the good eye. Those who look on the poor with the good eye bless both themselves and those who they help.
Which leads us to:
Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;
for the LORD pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.
Those who rob the poor crush them. That’s the sense of the verb used in this verse. They believe that no one will stand up against them. Wrong!
The gate refers to the city gates. Just as older folks sometimes gather at the local diner to sit for an hour or more over a cup of coffee to solve the world’s problems, so in biblical times they gathered at the city gates. From there they could see who was coming and going, talk about problems, and in general catch up. Others would take advantage of this resource and ask them to adjudicate disputes. Taking advantage of the lowly and humble at the city gate suggests that these rich and powerful people think they can do this with impunity. No one will speak up against them. But God is there at the city gates too, and God is the one who takes their side.
Now let’s be clear, just because someone is poor doesn’t mean they’re saintly. Many folks I’ve known without two nickels to rub together are wonderful folks, but others drive you crazy. I’m sure we can tell each other stories about how we saw someone buy this or that or the other with food stamps. These proverbs, however, remind us that we can’t turn the poor into a punching bag to make ourselves feel better. Again and again in scripture we’re told — these are God’s people. Play nice.
Frank R.
* * *
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
John Wesley speaks of wisdom as “the faculty of discerning the best ends, and the fittest means…” It is prudence or discretion, he says (The Works of John Wesley, Vol.7, p.43). A July 2024 poll conducted by Statista found that 35% (a plurality) of the American voters say that economic matters are the most important issue for them in the upcoming elections. This is a text for getting the faithful to consider that in reflecting on the economy and how they vote, caring for the poor and not oppressing them are blessings (vv. 9, 22). If Wesley is correct, if we want to be wise, we will vote for the candidate whose strategy (either give the poor and working class some extra money or else help the big businesses and billionaires whose prosperity will in turn elevate the condition of the poor) offers the fittest means and the best ends. In deliberating on these matters, the words of Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan may warrant attention: “Affluence creates poverty.” And James Madison, writing in a 1792 treatise on parties, may also offer us some wisdom:
Happy it is when the interest which the government has in the preservation of its own power coincide with a proper distribution of the public burdens and tend to guard the least wealthy part of the community from oppression.
Mark E.
* * *
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
The warning in the first part of this passage is to avoid partiality when dealing with rich and poor. This is based on the assumption that the fellowship includes rich and poor. Modern churches don’t do as well when it comes to diversity. We are segregated racially, economically, culturally, and even politically in the 21st century church. We don’t necessarily have to worry about showing partiality in some of our congregations because aside from one or two outliers, or tokens, we are not diverse.
Like James, the brother of Jesus, said in his letter: My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?
And elsewhere: Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you?
Frank R.
* * *
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
You may never have heard of Jalon Hall. I had not until researching regarding this text. Ms. Hall is deaf. She was contacted by a Google recruiter in 2020 to work with Google in moderating YouTube videos and determine whether they complied with child safety rules. She later moderated videos to check for Covid or election misinformation. But in both roles, she felt she couldn’t effectively do her job because she was not allowed to use ASL interpreters to review the videos.
She brought a lawsuit against Google for discriminating against her. In that lawsuit, Hall accused Google of subjecting her to both racism and audism (prejudice against the deaf or hard of hearing). In the hearing, Hall cited Google’s manager at the company’s machine-learning research program calling her an “aggressive black deaf woman” and advising her to “keep her mouth shut and take a sales role.”
I do not know the outcome of this trial, but it is clear from James that showing favoritism or discriminating against people is not what God wants his people to do. The antidote to any discriminatory “ism” is found in this text. “Love your neighbor as yourself” (vs. 8). Chief Justice John Roberts once wrote, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” May we demonstrate our faith in our actions by loving others as Jesus loves them.
Bill T.
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
I always thought these two healing stories were interesting. In the first, the woman is required to argue with Jesus to bring healing to her daughter. I wonder at her courage. I understand that she was desperate for the healing of her daughter and as such I would have argued as well. Yet, Jesus is known to be a prophet and a healer, and a Jew. That a woman of another race would approach Jesus and argue for healing takes real courage. That Jesus required her to argue before healing her daughter, is interesting as well. I don’t believe we see this in any other healing story.
In the second story, Jesus heals a man who is deaf and with a speech impediment, and he is taken aside away from the crowd to be healed. And Jesus spits and places the finger on his tongue, after he has placed his fingers in the man’s ears. The behavior seems strange, and unlike the other healing stories we read about Jesus.
Why tell us the stories? Why heal in these ways? Why desire to keep the healing a secret? We will never know the mind of God. And I think there are insights for us here. Insights that remind us that faith and healing aren’t one size fits all, and we have a God who knows us as we are individually created. Our creation, our life, our needs for healing — all these are as particular and peculiar as we are as individual human beings.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
Preachers might begin the sermon with a screaming call to repent. Then ask congregation calmly if their hearts have been changed, their deafness overcome. Show how this illustrates how our failure to remedy our spiritual deafness is not a function of getting louder. John Calvin was correct in noting that we only obtain our hearing as well as our speech, as a result of the saving work of Christ as his Holy Spirit. Calvin claims: “For he [Christ] pours his energy into our tongues and pierces our ears with his fingers.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XCI/2, p.272) Without Christ and the Spirit we remain dead. And yet Christ comes to heal us.
Mark E.
Riches aren’t important. This set of verses from the Proverbs reminds us that there are more important things than riches. Reputation or a good name is more important than having a lot of money. Both the poor and the rich have this in common. That being said, hoarding wealth isn’t good, but having enough to live on is important. In a nation that prides itself on each citizen “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps” it seems a foreign idea that we should ensure that everyone has enough.
The force for good in our faith indicates that we care for the poor, that we seek justice, that we ensure food, housing, employment, health care, and other sustaining items are provided. This idea isn’t socialist, although some will try to make it so. Remember that the early church sold what they had and shared everything together. I’m not saying we need to do that, but I am saying that the social programs that provide for food, housing, employment, healthcare, and education are essential to our care for and love of our neighbors. Working for this justice would give us a “good name.”
Bonnie B.
* * *
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
This week’s lectionary includes three pairs of proverbs that address a common theme, something that people in power, or desire to rise in power, need to know — God is on the side of the poor and the disadvantaged.
vv. 1-2 — This set of proverbs establishes God’s advocacy for the poor. The first one reads:
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.
It opens with something counter-intuitive to the culture at large — a good name. The only name, the only monument (some think the word for name is related to the word for building or monument), worth mentioning is one that speaks well to you. Your name is your monument. Some people give a good deal of thought to what their gravestone will look like. Indeed, the ancient Egyptian pharaohs spent a good deal of their time and energy creating the monuments that would memorialize them after they were gone. But this proverb suggests that your reputation is your legacy. With that in mind an astounding statement is made — there is no difference between rich and poor. In most eras, we’re talking super-rich and super-poor. The whole (and wholly false) idea of nobility or “blue-bloods” is that there is something intrinsically different between the rich and the poor. American slavery was built around the idea that some people were not as fully human as others, and this was preached from American pulpits. Scripture knows nothing of this. We are not separate species. God made us all.
And that leads to the next one! If you act this way, you reap what you sow.
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.
Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
Now in those days the powerful could beat the powerless mercilessly with rods — but not forever. This is a lesson that those who wished to wield power in the courts were expected to learn. You cannot act with impunity without consequences.
The second line involves a little false science but good theology. The ancients believed that the eye sent forth light which illuminated the things we see. They believed in the evil eye — looking at someone with malice could harm them. And that’s true, regardless of the science. We’ve all heard the saying, “If looks could kill….” In a certain sense they do. This second line emphasizes the opposite. Instead of the evil eye, it speaks of the good eye. Those who look on the poor with the good eye bless both themselves and those who they help.
Which leads us to:
Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;
for the LORD pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.
Those who rob the poor crush them. That’s the sense of the verb used in this verse. They believe that no one will stand up against them. Wrong!
The gate refers to the city gates. Just as older folks sometimes gather at the local diner to sit for an hour or more over a cup of coffee to solve the world’s problems, so in biblical times they gathered at the city gates. From there they could see who was coming and going, talk about problems, and in general catch up. Others would take advantage of this resource and ask them to adjudicate disputes. Taking advantage of the lowly and humble at the city gate suggests that these rich and powerful people think they can do this with impunity. No one will speak up against them. But God is there at the city gates too, and God is the one who takes their side.
Now let’s be clear, just because someone is poor doesn’t mean they’re saintly. Many folks I’ve known without two nickels to rub together are wonderful folks, but others drive you crazy. I’m sure we can tell each other stories about how we saw someone buy this or that or the other with food stamps. These proverbs, however, remind us that we can’t turn the poor into a punching bag to make ourselves feel better. Again and again in scripture we’re told — these are God’s people. Play nice.
Frank R.
* * *
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
John Wesley speaks of wisdom as “the faculty of discerning the best ends, and the fittest means…” It is prudence or discretion, he says (The Works of John Wesley, Vol.7, p.43). A July 2024 poll conducted by Statista found that 35% (a plurality) of the American voters say that economic matters are the most important issue for them in the upcoming elections. This is a text for getting the faithful to consider that in reflecting on the economy and how they vote, caring for the poor and not oppressing them are blessings (vv. 9, 22). If Wesley is correct, if we want to be wise, we will vote for the candidate whose strategy (either give the poor and working class some extra money or else help the big businesses and billionaires whose prosperity will in turn elevate the condition of the poor) offers the fittest means and the best ends. In deliberating on these matters, the words of Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan may warrant attention: “Affluence creates poverty.” And James Madison, writing in a 1792 treatise on parties, may also offer us some wisdom:
Happy it is when the interest which the government has in the preservation of its own power coincide with a proper distribution of the public burdens and tend to guard the least wealthy part of the community from oppression.
Mark E.
* * *
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
The warning in the first part of this passage is to avoid partiality when dealing with rich and poor. This is based on the assumption that the fellowship includes rich and poor. Modern churches don’t do as well when it comes to diversity. We are segregated racially, economically, culturally, and even politically in the 21st century church. We don’t necessarily have to worry about showing partiality in some of our congregations because aside from one or two outliers, or tokens, we are not diverse.
Like James, the brother of Jesus, said in his letter: My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?
And elsewhere: Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you?
Frank R.
* * *
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
You may never have heard of Jalon Hall. I had not until researching regarding this text. Ms. Hall is deaf. She was contacted by a Google recruiter in 2020 to work with Google in moderating YouTube videos and determine whether they complied with child safety rules. She later moderated videos to check for Covid or election misinformation. But in both roles, she felt she couldn’t effectively do her job because she was not allowed to use ASL interpreters to review the videos.
She brought a lawsuit against Google for discriminating against her. In that lawsuit, Hall accused Google of subjecting her to both racism and audism (prejudice against the deaf or hard of hearing). In the hearing, Hall cited Google’s manager at the company’s machine-learning research program calling her an “aggressive black deaf woman” and advising her to “keep her mouth shut and take a sales role.”
I do not know the outcome of this trial, but it is clear from James that showing favoritism or discriminating against people is not what God wants his people to do. The antidote to any discriminatory “ism” is found in this text. “Love your neighbor as yourself” (vs. 8). Chief Justice John Roberts once wrote, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” May we demonstrate our faith in our actions by loving others as Jesus loves them.
Bill T.
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
I always thought these two healing stories were interesting. In the first, the woman is required to argue with Jesus to bring healing to her daughter. I wonder at her courage. I understand that she was desperate for the healing of her daughter and as such I would have argued as well. Yet, Jesus is known to be a prophet and a healer, and a Jew. That a woman of another race would approach Jesus and argue for healing takes real courage. That Jesus required her to argue before healing her daughter, is interesting as well. I don’t believe we see this in any other healing story.
In the second story, Jesus heals a man who is deaf and with a speech impediment, and he is taken aside away from the crowd to be healed. And Jesus spits and places the finger on his tongue, after he has placed his fingers in the man’s ears. The behavior seems strange, and unlike the other healing stories we read about Jesus.
Why tell us the stories? Why heal in these ways? Why desire to keep the healing a secret? We will never know the mind of God. And I think there are insights for us here. Insights that remind us that faith and healing aren’t one size fits all, and we have a God who knows us as we are individually created. Our creation, our life, our needs for healing — all these are as particular and peculiar as we are as individual human beings.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
Preachers might begin the sermon with a screaming call to repent. Then ask congregation calmly if their hearts have been changed, their deafness overcome. Show how this illustrates how our failure to remedy our spiritual deafness is not a function of getting louder. John Calvin was correct in noting that we only obtain our hearing as well as our speech, as a result of the saving work of Christ as his Holy Spirit. Calvin claims: “For he [Christ] pours his energy into our tongues and pierces our ears with his fingers.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XCI/2, p.272) Without Christ and the Spirit we remain dead. And yet Christ comes to heal us.
Mark E.
